He lowered his eyes to look at the black-and-white photo of the two people on the tombstone. Suddenly he put down his umbrella and placed it over Mu Sicheng's photo. He then took off his black suit jacket and placed it over Mu Ke's tombstone.

Bai Liu, wearing a white shirt, stood in the rain, quietly looking at the two tombstones and bowed deeply three times.

After bowing, Bai Liu walked back alone in the rain, but stopped halfway.

Not far away stood the Lu Post Station.

In front of Lu Yizhan was Cen Mingming's tombstone. He stood on one knee in front of the tombstone, holding a gray long-handled umbrella. He took out a cigarette from his chest pocket, lit it, and placed it on the tombstone. He silently held the umbrella against the tombstone, waiting for the cigarette to burn out.

The rain was pattering down between them.

Lu Yizhan stood up, put away the cigarette butt that was wet by the rain, turned around and saw Bai Liu, he was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously handed his umbrella to him, blurting out: "Why don't you bring an umbrella..."

"The umbrella is left to Mu Ke and the others." Bai Liu said calmly.

The action of Lu Yizhan's parachute delivery stopped in mid-air.

The grey umbrella stopped between the two of them. There was no one under the umbrella, yet it seemed as if there were many people standing under it. Bai Liu and Lu Yizhang looked at each other silently through the umbrella. There was clearly an umbrella that was big enough to shelter the two of them from the rain, but both of them were getting wet.

Perhaps, they all knew that it would be impossible for them to walk under an umbrella again.

Lu Yizhan slowly put down the umbrella and placed it next to Cen Mingming's tombstone.

None of them held umbrellas. They walked out of the cemetery in silence, keeping a safe distance of three meters in the rain. As Lu Yizhan walked, he began to search his chest pocket. He took out the pack of cigarettes that he had given to Cen Mingming, shook it to get out a cigarette, but found that the box was empty.

Lu Yizhan looked at a small shop outside the cemetery. There was a big umbrella in the shop with a bench under it. Lu Yizhan paused and said, "Let's go over there to avoid the rain."

Bai Liu walked over and bought some cigarettes at Lu Yi Station. While buying cigarettes, he discovered that this convenience store actually had a freezer that sold ice cream. He looked at the Strawberry Cotta in the freezer and smiled for some reason, but the smile quickly disappeared.

"A pack of cigarettes." Lu Yizhan was silent for a moment, "plus one of these, how much is it in total?"

Lu Yizhan took the food and walked to the bench and sat down. He sat on the left side of the bench and Bai Liu sat on the right side. He paused and handed the cute thing in his hand to Bai Liu: "Do you want to eat?"

"No." Bai Liu refused calmly, "It's not tasty."

"..." Lu Yizhan took it back silently. He peeled off the skin and took a bite. The sweet taste made him feel uneasy. He paused and smiled with red eyes. "It's really not very delicious."

"It is too sweet."

Bai Liu was silent for a while, then he suddenly stretched out his hand. Lu Yizhan looked over at him helplessly: "I've already eaten half of it, do you want me to buy you another one?"

"That's not it." Bai Liu said calmly, "I want to smoke."

Lu Yizhan was completely stunned.

"You're not annoying..."

"I want to smoke one." Bai Liu's hands were still stretched out, and he lowered his eyes and repeated it again.

Lu Yizhang was silent for a while and handed a cigarette to Bai Liu. Bai Liu took Lu Yizhang's lighter and lit it himself. He bit the cigarette holder and half-closed his eyes. The flickering spots of fire were reflected in his dark pupils. The lingering white smoke passed through his long drooping eyelashes and scattered into loose pieces.

Bai Liu took a breath and then stopped. He supported his hands on his knees, slowly bent down, looked at his confused reflection in the puddles on the ground, and took a deep breath.

There are drops of water falling on the eyelashes.

"It's so bitter." Bai Liu said softly, "The cigarette is so bitter."

"So tobacco tastes so bitter."

Raindrops dripped from the edge of the big red umbrella. There was an empty cigarette on the ashtrays on the trash cans on both sides of the benches where people had sat briefly, and there was an empty candy can in the trash can.

Lu Yizhan stood on the left side of the bench and asked softly, "Are you sure you want to take this route?"

"I thought you were going to ask me why I had to go against you." Bai Liu stood on the right side of the bench and looked up.

"No." Lu Yizhan shook his head and opened his mouth, "You don't have any other choice."

Bai Liu looked at Lu Yizhan calmly: "You don't have it either, right?"

Lu Yizhan didn't say anything, he just remained silent.

"Then see you in the game." Bai Liu turned and left, saying indifferently, "I know you will support me."

“But I’m not going back.”

Lu Yizhang watched Bai Liu walk to the other side for a while, paused for a moment, turned around, and walked to the other side.

They finally reached the point where they parted ways.

Bai Liu returned to the rental house, changed his clothes that were wet by the rain, and took a shower. The competition would be tomorrow, and he would go to the guild today to discuss the final matters with Wang Shun.

For example... who were the reserve players for the finals?

In the game, the Wandering Circus Guild, meeting room.

The conference room was empty with only Bai Liu sitting on the stage. Wang Shun would stare into space after speaking a few sentences, and Bai Liu had to ask him to stop.

"I really don't know what to say." Wang Shun touched his face and smiled bitterly, "President, how can you fight alone?"

"You haven't told me the roster for the final yet."

Mu Ke and Mu Sicheng... it's impossible. Although Tang Erda and Liu Jiayi are still there, they are both seriously injured and unconscious. They can't log into the game at all. Only Bai Liu is left. The minimum requirement for the league is five players. How can we play?

"I'll fight alone." Bai Liu said calmly.

Wang Shun was stunned: "One person...fighting?!"

"Yeah." Bai Liu lowered her eyelids. "There has been a precedent for this, hasn't there?"

"That's because Yuan Guang has special skills!" Wang Shun understood instantly, "But President, you don't have his soul coin. I remember you said..."

Bai Liu raised his head: "I have it now."

"Bai Liu gave it to me."

Wang Shun was completely stunned.

After Bai Liu left, Wang Shun sat alone in the conference room in a daze. He looked at the seats where people used to sit, and then at the seat where Bai Liu had sat before. His mind, which used to store a lot of information, became empty and he could not remember anything.

He clearly felt that something had changed.

Whether it's him or Bai Liu.

After dealing with the finals, Bai Liu returned to the rental house. As soon as he returned, he heard a cautious sound coming from downstairs.

——That was where Mu Ke and his friends lived before.

Bai Liu quickly went downstairs, opened the door of the room where the sound came from, and saw a frightened Du Sanying lying on the ground: "Mr. Bai Liu!"

"What are you doing?" Bai Liu's eyes swept across the ground and stopped at the pile of packed clothes. He opened his eyelids and asked, "Are you leaving?"

"Yes." Du Sanying curled up behind the ceremony, hugged his knees, and tried to stay away from Bai Liu. "I, I'm going back to the nursing home, Mr. Bai Liu."

"I have already contacted the people at the nursing home. When I go there, they will prepare a cell for me to be locked in the basement. They can deliver food to me via a food truck and send me a change of clothes via a truck. They will definitely not let me run into anyone again."

Bai Liu was silent for a long time: "It's not your fault what happened to them."

This sentence was like the last straw that broke the camel's back for Du Sanying. He collapsed and burst into tears hysterically, crying until his whole body was shaking: "It's all my fault!"

"If Mu Shen and Mu Ke hadn't touched me, they wouldn't have died!"

"If Tang Erda and Jiayi hadn't walked up to me, they wouldn't have been hurt!"

"It's all my fault! I shouldn't have been friends with them, shouldn't have come here, and shouldn't have met such nice people like them!"

"I killed them!!"

Du Sanying lay on the ground, crying until she was almost convulsed, vomiting, and sobbing on the ground, "I hurt... them."

"You bumped into me too." Bai Liu stretched out his hand to pull Du Sanying up, his voice still steady, "But I'm fine."

"So it's not your fault."

Du Sanying raised his head, his eyes moved from Bai Liu's hand that was stretched out in front of him to Bai Liu's calm face, with an indescribable trance: "...Are you okay?"

"How can you be okay?!"

"Mr. Bai Liu." Du Sanying choked with tears, "You are the one who was hurt the most by me."

"I have ruined you. You have nothing left. You are the only one left."

In the end, Du Sanying was taken away by the people from the nursing home. He cried on the ground until he fainted. He would be extremely terrified whenever Bai Liu got close to him. He would even behave in a suicidal manner. He would kneel on the ground and kowtow madly, until his forehead was covered in blood, begging Bai Liu not to get close to him. It was as if his spirit had completely collapsed.

So Bai Liu stood at the door and saw him off quietly, just like he did when he came.

Du Sanying finally turned around with tears in his eyes, and he kept apologizing:

"sorry."

"I'm sorry... Mr. Bai Liu."

Bai Liu returned to the rental house. He looked at the completely quiet house and realized belatedly that -

——He is really, completely alone.

"Bai Liu." Someone called his name. Bai Liu looked over suddenly and saw Hei Tao walking out of the room.

Spade walked up to him.

Spade hugged him tightly.

"You're back." said Spade.

The moment Bai Liu was hugged tightly, his expression was confused and helpless. It was a very cold day, but Hei Tao's body hugged him and it was very warm, so warm that he felt like it was his own illusion, not an illusion of someone else.

So warm.

Bai Liu asked in a daze: "Hello... hot."

It was so hot that steam was coming out of the collar.

"I've been showering my body with hot water for a long time." Spade whispered, "I hope I can give you a warm hug when you go home."

Bai Liu slowly closed his eyes, hummed softly, and buried his head in Hei Tao's shoulder.

"It's warm."

They lay on the bed, hugging each other. Bai Liu curled up in Hei Tao's arms, her eyelids drooping, her face full of fatigue, and she was about to fall asleep soon.

He had been dealing with too many things during this period of time. When he finally had the chance to relax, the long-suppressed fatigue instantly rushed up and was about to send him into a dream.

In a state of half-sleep and half-wakefulness, Bai Liu felt Heitao stand up, as if he was about to leave. Before he regained consciousness, Bai Liu grasped the corner of Heitao's clothes and murmured unconsciously:

“…Don’t go.”

"I'm already alone, you can't leave."

Because it was agreed that if he was alone, Spade would appear to accompany him and would not leave.

Hei Tao leaned over and hugged him tightly again: "I'm going to take another hot shower."

"I'm not hot anymore."

Bai Liu huddled into Heitao's arms and said in a muffled voice: "...It's okay."

"Don't go."

"I don't want to be alone in this room."

"I'm scared."

So Heitao paused for a moment, then fell asleep quickly, holding Bai Liu in his arms. He rested his chin against the top of Bai Liu's head, patted Bai Liu's shoulders, and his eyes shone with a very light silver-blue color: "Don't be afraid."

"I will always be with you."

Bai Liu fell into a dream.

Heitao looked at Bai Liu's sleeping face, lowered his eyes and kissed Bai Liu's forehead: "I love you."

"White Willow."

"I won't leave you alone."

Spade closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Finally, I'm here." Bai Liu appeared in Hei Tao's dream with a light laugh. He walked out of the dark void and said to Hei Tao with a smile, "I thought you would always refuse me to enter your dream."

Hei Tao turned his head, and the moment he saw Bai Liu, the dark dream brightened up and everything around him became clear.

The waves lapping against the coast, the ancient temple, the stone table standing in front of the temple, the prophet who was almost petrified, and the evil god sitting on the other side of the stone table with a smile on his face.

The evil god chuckled and asked Hei Tao: "You were so resistant to me entering your dream before, why did you agree this time?"

"Could it be that you have considered a different outcome for the deal I discussed with you?"

"You said that I, Bai Liu and Tawil must have one person's soul to guard the gate." Hei Tao raised his head and said calmly, "You said that Bai Liu didn't love me, but Tawil. If I watch Bai Liu and Tawil live happily together in every world line, and guard all of this on the other side of the gate, the pain I feel can also meet the standard of guarding the gate."

"So you asked me if I was willing to guard the gate and become the new evil god, and you could use this as a trade to fulfill a wish."

"Yes." Bai Liu held up his hands and chuckled regretfully, "It's a pity that you rejected me."

"After that, Tavel's soul entered your body, and you and him were together with Bai Liu in a state that had not yet merged."

"I am very curious about your soul. This is the first time I see one of my creations giving birth to a soul."

Bai Liu stood up with a smile. The next second, he appeared on the temple and looked down at Hei Tao who was standing under the temple:

"Your love for Bai Liu gave birth to a soul, and because you have a soul and emotions, you have dreams. And your new dream can actually reject my visit. This is really interesting."

"To a certain extent, this shows that you also have the potential to become the new evil god."

"Because you can deny desire."

"And at this moment, what kind of desire made you give up rejecting me——" Bai Liu smiled and spread his hands, "——and allowed me to enter your dream?"

Bai Liurao raised his lips in amusement: "Let me guess——"

"Is it because of Bai Liu?"

Spade bowed his head and said nothing.

"I told you that as a vessel, the existence of your soul will only prevent Tavel from waking up. But at this moment, you feel that your existence can't play any role for Bai Liu." Bai Liu walked down from the temple step by step, lowered his eyelids, and whispered softly, "You feel that what Bai Liu needs at this moment is a human who can hug him warmly."

"——Instead of you, a cold monster who needs to use external objects to make yourself hot over and over again."

"What he needs is the one he loves, not you, a cuckoo in the nest who prevents the one he loves from waking up, a mere imitator, a derivative born to kill and cause pain."

A black whip appeared in Spade's hand and he clenched it tightly.

Bai Liu smiled and said, "——Even your weapon is something that Bai Liu hates and rejects."

"He refused to accept this weapon until the last moment, but you have been using it since you were born."

Spade's hand that was clenching the whip loosened its fingers one by one.

The black bone whip fell to the ground and shattered into spots of light.

"I believe you have understood that your birth was a painful design of mine for Tavier and Bai Liu, the two heirs I favored." Bai Liu smiled softly, "But there was a little accident. You have the same appearance as Tavier, and Bai Liu looks at you with the same eyes as Tavier."

"You have a soul because of his feelings for Tawil."

"In short, your soul is a monster created by stealing Bai Liu's love for Tavel."

"Now, as long as you give up Bai Liu and choose to become the evil god yourself, he won't have to become the evil god, Tavel can wake up and be with him, and other people won't have to resist my existence anymore. Everything will be fine."

"——I just need to sacrifice you as an accident."

"You feel sorry for Bai Liu's loneliness now, but isn't this loneliness caused by you?" Bai Liu chuckled nonchalantly, "If you had chosen to become the new gatekeeper during the Evil God Festival, and not stolen Bai Liu's love for Tavel for your own selfish love, then none of this would have happened."

"Mu Ke and Mu Sicheng would not die, Tang Erda and Liu Jiayi would not be seriously injured, and Bai Liu would not be so lonely and in so much pain."

"Isn't all this caused by your self-deception of wanting to be with Bai Liu?"

"You must have felt how much pain Bai Liu was in. He blamed himself and thought it was all his fault. Didn't you feel scared when you hugged him?"

"You are obviously the culprit?"

Spade's chest rose and fell slowly, and his fists clenched and unclenched, unclenched and clenched again.

"Do you think your company can really make Bai Liu happy?"

Bai Liu chuckled: "Now you see it."

"Your company is what makes Bai Liu most painful."

Spade's pupils shrank.

"So?" Bai Liu walked up to Hei Tao, held out his hand to him, and asked with a smile, "This is your last chance."

"Are you willing to make a wish to the evil god, pay the price of your soul, become the new evil god, and stop what happened to Bai Liu?"

Spade slowly raised his head. His hair grew longer, turning into long, silver-blue curly hair. His pupils turned silver-blue, and countless spheres floated around him. His tone was extremely serious:

"I made a wish to you."

The wind blew around Kurooku, and his soul was lifted up. An endless silver-blue sphere of light floated around him. The temple disappeared, and turned into a vast silver-blue universe. In this universe, there were 658 settled world lines floating around him.

Bai Liu gently held the 658th sphere in his hand, his face illuminated by the warm glow of the sphere. He smiled sympathetically, "Black Spade, what do you want to wish for me?"

Spade said softly:

"Bai Liu, I want to give all the happiness that ordinary people in this world can have to the person behind me."

"I want him to have someone by his side during the loneliest times in his life. I want everything that hurts him to disappear. I want him to have everything he lost back."

"I want someone to always be able to play his favorite horror games with him."

Spade raised his head, his silver-blue eyes were filled with a faint light: "I hope he and the one he loves will never be separated."

"They were able to meet as human beings, be together as human beings, and end happily with human death."

Bai Liu raised his lips with a smile: "What a greedy creature! These are more than just one wish. What price are you willing to pay for these wishes?"

Hei Tao was silent for a long time, then he spoke softly, "I am willing to pay the price of my soul."

"Now that I have a soul, I will become the next generation of evil god as you wish and guard the door forever."

Bai Liu smiled: "As you wish."

——Human emotions are such interesting things.

Bai Liu looked at Spade and Tavel, who were almost completely integrated in front of him, with a smile on his face.

——From the beginning to the end, there is no such thing as a container giving birth to a soul.

Spade has never been a container. The soul in his body was, from the beginning to the end, a soul sealed by Tawil himself. But even Tawil himself was deceived by him and believed that Spade also had a soul.

Emotions make people foolish, painful, weak, and self-deceiving.

Tawil made a wish to him with his soul because of his feelings, but because Bai Liu was also the soul he liked, Bai Liu also wanted Bai Liu's soul, so he actually did not fulfill Tawil's wish, the transaction was not reached, and he naturally had no way to get Tawil's soul.

Therefore, the ownership of Tavel's soul has always been free. It is not in his hands, but has always existed in the form of an NPC in the game Spade.

But even Tavel himself didn't know it. He thought the deal had been made and his soul was already in Bai Liu's hands. The incarnation named Spade in the game was just a container.

Tawil made the same mistake as Georgia, believing that if the deal was done, White Six would obey the outcome, but in fact he would not.

The evil spirit can also choose to renege on the deal.

This time, White Six used the same method to trick Spade into sacrificing his soul to him again.

The same monster, the same lover, the same way of deceiving. His creation is obviously not a stupid thing, but it will fall into the same pit again because of the blindness of emotions.

The evil god's creation that brings misfortune will always doubt whether he should really stay with his loved one.

Does His company really only bring pain?

Even though he still won't fulfill Spade's wish and can't get Spade's soul in the end, his most desired heir is about to arrive at the temple, and he doesn't want anything to go wrong because of Spade, or Tavel.

—With this deal, he could trap Spade in the past.

Bai Liu lowered his eyes: "You said you don't want Bai Liu to be alone."

"But Bai Liu has always been alone."

Bai Liu's eyebrows curved: "Are you willing to go back to the past and accompany him when he was most lonely?"

Spade's steps on his way out stopped.

"At the age of 18, Bai Liu was isolated and bullied by everyone. He didn't remember Tavier and had no one around him. He was only one step away from entering the game, or even death."

"He was very, very lonely."

"He feels deep down that he is a monster and he wants someone to be with him."

"He's afraid."

"Would you like to go see Bai Liu at that time?" Bai Liu said softly, "This should also be part of your wish, right? Not letting Bai Liu have anyone."

"Before you really become an evil god and forever watch over Bai Liu's happiness with Tavel alone, don't you want to have your own memories with Bai Liu? Then at least in the endless emptiness and desire, you still have something worth cherishing, instead of always wearing Tavel's skin and licking that little bit of stolen love."

"Don't you want Bai Liu, who doesn't remember anything, to say to you, do I like you?"

"If you miss this opportunity, you will never hear from me again after I fulfill your wish."

Bai Liu smiled cheerfully: "Evil gods don't dream."

"Don't you want to leave yourself some material for your last beautiful dream?"

Hei Tao turned around, and Bai Liu looked into his eyes and smiled.

——Everything was going according to the "future" he wrote.

The next day, Bai Liu woke up and found no one by his side, only some warmth left.

Bai Liu felt the temperature, lowered his eyes, and suddenly exhaled lightly.

He got dressed and logged into the game alone.

In game.

The killer sequence was in chaos, Liao Ke was extremely anxious: "Where's Spade?!"

"The game is about to start, where is he?"

Bai Yi and Bai Jiamu said weakly: "Maybe he ran away because he didn't want to fight Bai Liu..."

Lu Yizhan, who was sitting next to him, closed his eyes.

It's certainly not something Hei Tao can't do.

No one wanted to hurt Bai Liu more than he did.

"Let Zhou Gong play in the team match." Lu Yizhan let out a long sigh and stood up with his knees propped up. "If he doesn't want to play, we won't force him. Let's go."

Liao Ke walked to the side of Lu Station. Everyone was nervous about the situation. He asked anxiously, "Where is your soul banknote at Bai Liu? If we fight, there won't be any problems, right?"

"Only half a piece." Lu Yizhan said in a steady voice. He walked into the viewing pool and looked at Bai Liu who was standing alone opposite him. His eyes inevitably relaxed for a moment, but soon calmed down. "If Bai Liu cannot reach a complete agreement with my will, he will not be able to log into my panel with this half piece of soul banknote."

"The previous Bai Liu might still be able to use my soul banknotes."

Lu Yizhan looked at Bai Liu across from him, his eyes somewhat stunned: "But now... it's impossible."

The host waved his hand excitedly: "Please ask both tacticians to come forward and shake hands!!"

"The wandering circus is actually competing alone!"

"The president of Russell Cemetery has gone out alone before, but that was in the mid-season game. This has never been seen in the final of the playoffs!"

"It is conceivable that if Bai Liu really wins this game in this way, the Wandering Circus will definitely become a popular team next year!"

Just as Lu Yizhan was about to step forward, he saw Bai Liu calmly raising his hand across from him and said, "We won't give up the singles match."

The host was stunned for a moment: "Wait!"

"Bai Liu said their team will not give up the singles competition!!"

"This means that he still has to fight in the singles competition!!"

The host was completely excited. He almost roared as he held the microphone: "Does that mean Bai Liu wants to challenge the Killer Sequence in singles, doubles, and team matches alone?"

"Oh my god, this is unheard of!"

"He only has one immunity-from-death gold medal! Then there are two matches, and he can't use it!"

"This is simply crazy!"

"Let's see how the Killer Sequence will respond!" The host turned to the Killer Sequence, "This crazy move will probably give the God of Resistance a headache. After all, Bai Liu defeated the strongest single player Spade in the singles competition. The singles competition will also consume gold medals, so the God of Resistance will most likely choose to give up..."

Before the host finished speaking, Lu Yizhan also raised his hand. He said in a steady voice, "The Killer Sequence will not give up the singles match."

"The contestant, the judge of the rebellious gods."

The host was stunned: "The contestant is Ni Shen himself?!"

Liao Ke and Bai Yi were both stunned. Bai Jiamu was completely unable to react and stared blankly at the calm-looking Nishen who was preparing to go on stage.

"Army!" Liao Ke couldn't help but shout out when he saw Lu Yizhan was about to go up. He wanted to say something.

Lu Yizhan turned around and smiled calmly: "Before he really does something bad, someone has to stop him."

"I watched him grow up, and there is no reason for me to watch him become an evil god."

Lu Yizhan turned his head and looked at Bai Liu who was walking towards him. He took a deep breath, stood up and walked forward: "I told him so."

"If he really wants to be a bad guy in front of me, the first bad thing he does is——"

"——It must be to kill me."

"As long as I live, I won't let him become a bad person."

Lu Yizhan stepped next to the viewing screen.

Bai Liu stretched out his hand to the left, released the gold medal of immunity from death in his hand, raised his eyes, and said calmly: "In this game, I give up the gold medal of immunity from death."

Lu Yizhan paused for a moment, then he took out his own death-free gold medal, looked at Bai Liu across from him, and then slowly put it down: "...I also give up this game."

Two gold medals of immunity from death fell to the ground.

The whole audience burst into laughter.

"Wow!" the host snapped his fingers and said in a high-spirited tone, "Another singles match where both sides gave up their chances of immunity from death!"

"It is destined that someone will die in this game!"

"And it was a singles match between the two tacticians. So, whose tactician died in this singles match—"

"——Whichever team loses the game first!"

[System prompt: Player Bai Liu/Ni Shen confirms that he will not use the Death-Free Gold Medal in this match.]

[…Filtering games…Loading games…]

【The game has been successfully loaded.】

[System prompt: Player Bai Liu/Ni Shen has logged into the game instance "Nightmare Temple"]

Bai Liu entered a magnificent temple and opened his eyes.

He entered the ultimate nightmare.